Aspirated smoke detectors are known in the art, and known aspirated smoke detectors include a highly sensitive smoke sensor in an optical chamber of a detector. For example, highly sensitive smoke sensors used in known aspirated smoke detectors are 10-50 times more sensitive than standard point photoelectric sensors.
Known aspirated smoke detectors include an emitter and a receiver. For example, the emitter can include a laser diode or high efficiency LED that emits light, and the receiver can include a sensing receiver, such as a photodiode. The laser diode can be combined with a lens and a mirror to output an optical signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio, and the sensing receiver can be illuminated by light that is scattered by smoke particles in the optical chamber, thereby triggering an alarm signal. In order to avoid saturation of the photodiode, known optical chambers are designed so that a high intensity beam emitted by the laser diode does not reach the receiver directly. Instead, the emitted light beam is projected onto a light trap, where a fraction of luminous flux is captured by a second monitoring receiver for monitoring a proper operation of the optical system.
The described architecture of optical chambers with such highly sensitive smoke sensors and other architecture known in the art require a complex and expensive manufacturing process. Moreover, the described complexity of these optical chambers influences the effectiveness of a calibration process and the reproducibility and repeatability of the detectors.
In view of the above, there is a continuing, ongoing need for an aspirated smoke detector with an improved optical chamber.